Long time coming....

Many apologies for the lack of blogging. We have no excuses. We're tired and joyful, achy and blessed. Chasing Chloe around day and night is a wonderful, exhausting experience. She is babbling and crawling. She can recognize animals and make the appropriate noises, point to all her body parts, and say lots of words: mama, dada, bawl (ball), uish (juice), peas (please), no, yesh (yes), boo (book), boo (boo), bubawl (bubble), rock-rock (as she is rocking in her chair), moh (more), uh(up), dawh (dog), Desda (Dixon), owha (flower), tee (tree), birr (bird). She's amazingly bright, adorable and loving.

Despite all of these things, mommy and daddy occasionally need a break. I pulled something off that I have been thinking of for a long time. I arranged babysitters, time off work for me and Jared, and obtained hotel reservations and restaurant recommendations and swept Jared away to Asheville with me for the weekend. He was floored, and excited. We had a great time, and were able to regroup for the fall season. If you've never been to Asheville, I highly recommend it. We'd move there in a heartbeat if given the chance. Enjoy pics below. We'll try to start posting again on a more regular basis.

Look! We're both dressed and not covered with various bits of yogurt and nuggets and other toddler food.















Happy, relaxed Amanda





















Happy, relaxed Jared.









Hot dogs for lunch. Jared's dream come true.












In the hot dog restaurant. Jared thought this was cool.















Yummy yummy cupcakes. Best of my life.













Who knew Batman lived off the Blue Ridge Parkway?

One

Chloe turned one this past weekend. We fluctuate between not believing that she's already one and talking about how big of a girl she is. She walks all the time, eats by herself (finally) and is moving to the toddler room at daycare. She takes one nap a day and sleeps all night. She is full of smiles and giggles, and loves to play outside. In fact, one slip of the word "bye bye" will have her running to the door to try to turn the handle. She is a joy and a blessing, and we love and enjoy her so much. Enjoy some pics from the last few weeks! There are a lot, but she is so adorable! Enjoy!

Pictures of summer Chloe!

Dada

Easily the one word that Chloe says 100 times a day. Since day 1, she and Jared have had this special bond that is evident in every smile, every look, touch and giggle. She loves her Dada more than any one else. There are times when I am pushed away in the pursuit of Dada, and I am ok with that. Because this man loves this little girl more than I thought possible. She brings out his silly side, patience I didn't know he had, and so much love and adoration. He is so proud of her walk, her babbles and all the little accomplishments that would be nothing to someone else. He praises her and loves her, teaches her and guides her, while I sit back and watch, thankful for the man God has blessed us with. He puts us before so much else, works hard to provide and still manages to play pillows and throw rocks outside after a long day. He's one of a kind, and we've got him. And we're thankful.

There's nothing better....

than a baby's laugh.

I can take a hint

It's been a long time. Sorry for the delay, friends, and thanks for the subtle and not-so-subtle hints to update the blog, EMH and LWL. We haven't had much exciting to write about, and sickness has abounded in our house. We've had ear infections, sinus infections, croup, and a stomach bug since we've last posted. It's been a tough winter. Chloe seems to have brought home every possible illness from daycare and lovingly passed it down to us. Hopefully when the weather gets warmer we'll all begin to feel better. We got our first glimpse of spring today with 70 degree weather and we can't wait for more!

We took Chloe to the park today for the first time, and she loved it! She loved the swing and the nice weather, and was infatuated by all of the people. It literally wore her out. She came home and took a 2 hour nap (and for those ofyou who know Chlo, that is a long nap!). We've posted all of her new pictures on her Picasa page; the link's on the right under "Chloe pics". She is such a joy to us and we can't believe she is 8 months old. She is a crawling machine, and is into everything, but her favorite thing to do is stand up and cruise from one piece of furniture to another. She'll be walking in no time flat.

Jared and I are holding our own. He has been back and forth to Richmond and will continue to travel there for work this month. We are excited to welcome our new nephew this summer when Alison and James have their first baby boy in July! Things have been good, just crazy busy. Forgive us for the delay in posting; we'll try to get back into the swing of things soon! Enjoy a few pictures of our cute girl!



Cheesing for the camera. The carrots got a little out of control this night.




Cute girl with her daddy. The sunhat's a little big, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.



Somebody LOVES to swing.

Go see some more pics of our cute Chloe.

Look what I can do!!

Unbelievable. We are officially parents of a big girl. Crawling is right around the corner! She has been working on this for a few days, but now, if we help her sit up, she can sit by herself for a few minutes. She is also learning how to fall gracefully:)



One of Jared's friends from work, Donna, gave her this adorable hat. And she doesn't seem to mind it, she's so excited about sitting up!



We had Chloe baptized at our church the weekend before Thanksgiving. It meant so much to us to give her back to God and have her become a part of the covenant family. Here she is in her gown my mom made her.



Isn't it funny how when your children are in daycare you know the other children in their class better than you know their parents? Chloe's friend Wilson's mom left this snowsuit for us because he had never worn it. We think she looks a little like Randy from A Christmas Story. She couldn't put her arms down. But she loved it.



Merry Christmas!

Laughter is the best medicine

Chloe is not one to laugh often, but when she does, it's great. It makes Friday night after a long week of work not seem so exhausting. This is what it's all about, and I was finally able to catch it on tape. Enjoy. What a cute, cute girl!





Ticklish Chloe!